Tube-rolling mill.



PATENTED SEPT. 13, 1904.

J. H. NICHOLSON.

TUBE ROLLING MILL.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 3. 1901.

3 SHEBTSSHEET 1.

N0 MODEL.

No. 769,709. PATENTED SEPT. 13, 1904. J. H. NICHOLSON.

TUBE ROLLING MILL.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 3, 1901.

N0 MODEL. s SHEETS-SHEET 2.

PATENTED SEPT. 13, 1904 a SHEETS-SHEET s.

N m N/ llll /l/ 04-r/////4r// J. H. NICHOLSON.

TUBE ROLLING MILL.

APPLIOATION FILED APR. 3, 1901.

N0 MODEL.

dJQ QJ m NITED STATES Patented September 13, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN H. NICHOLSON, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR, BY

HESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO NATlONAL TUBE COMPANY, A CORPORA- TION OF NEWV JERSEY.

TUBE-ROLLING MILL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 769,709, dated September 13, 1904.

Application filed April 3, 1901.

To a whnm/ it may ROILCLWIL:

Be itknown that 1, JOHN H. NICHOLSON, engineer, a citizen of the United States, residing at Pittsburg, in the State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful 1mprovements in Tube-Rolling Mills, of which the following is a description illustrated by the accompanying drawings.

The object of the invention is to expedite, simplify, and reduce the cost of manufacturing hotrolled tubular bodies.

To this end the invention contemplates the use of a mandrel and grooved rolls, the mandrel-bar being laterally supported in a manner to give it the requisite rigidity without in any way interfering with the thrusting of the tubes over it by the action of the rolls.

The preferable manner and form in which the invention may be carried out is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a tube-rolling mill embodying the present invention, some parts not peculiar to the invention being omitted. Fig. 2 is a plan view, and Fig. 3 a front elevation, of the same mill. Fig. 4 is a detail view of certain parts of the driving and reversing mechanism for the rolls, and Figs. 5, 6, and 7 are detail views showing intermediate sleeve-supports for the mandrel-bars.

The driving-shaft may be actuated by any suitable meansas, for instance, a steam-engine Z). This shaft 6 is geared to drive the two gears c and (Z in reverse directions, the interposed idler (Z being interposed for this purpose. The gears c and (Z turn loosely upon the shaft 0. Adouble friction-clutch g of any suitable design connects either gear a or (Z at will to drive the shaft 0. Any suitable shifting device may be used to operate the elutch as, for instance, that shown at it. One of the two rolls, preferably the lower roll j, is driven by the shaft (2 through a suitable flexible connection f in the well-known manner. The upper roll 1; is geared to the lower roll and driven thereby through the flexible connections f and gears f. The rolls j and A:

have grooves of different sizes corresponding to cooperate with diiferently-sized mandrels Serial No. 54,118. (No model.)

in making tubes having various diameters and gage. The rolls should, as usual, have means for raising or lowering the upper roll and means for forcing the lower roll yieldingly upward against stops. The present invention is not essentially concerned with the details of any of these parts.

Under the present invention the mandrels are so supported that the tube may be rolled first onto one mandrel-bar Z and then off again in the reverse direction. Little or no work may be done in rolling in one direction. The supports 12 for rigidly holding the tail end of the mandrel-bar I may be detachably aflixed to I beams or girders a, resting upon a suitably iirm foundation. The ends of the mandrel-bars extend through the support a and are provided with nuts 9 1', which are screwthreaded onto the mandrel-bars and serve the double purpose of rigidly afiixing the mandrel-bars l to the support '21 preventing any longitudinal movement in either direction and also permitting the adjustment of the bars longitudinally by moving the nuts along the bars for the purpose of accurately placing the mandrel in between the rolls at the best position.

In order to give increased rigidity to the construction, the supports 11 are connected directly to the housing it of the rolls by heavy side rods it, keyed or otherwise secured to the housings at one end and secured between nuts h to the transverse support a. The nuts 7/, screw-threaded onto the side bars It, permit the adjustment of the support n to and from the housings, thereby adjusting all the mandrel bars simultaneously, whereas the nuts (1 and 1- adjust the mandrel-bars severally and independently of each other. der to insure a rigid connection between the mandrel-bars and the support 72, jam-nuts 1 may be provided. The object of thus rigidly securing the mandrel-bars is to prevent their chattering andjumping, which they frequently do if free to move in the supports. If they are secured with sutlicient rigidity not only against loose movement, but also against the elastic yielding of the supports and connec- In ortions, the force exerted upon the mandrel by the rolls and the danger of their chattering and jumping under the great pressure exerted by the rolls are eliminated, and the mill operates smoothly and regularly.

In order to laterally support the mandrels at intermediate points, I provide sliding sleeves, which are free to move out of the Way of the tube as the tube is thrust back onto the mandrel-bar under the action of the rolls. The form in which I prefer to construct these sleeves is that of bushings s, the ends of which are slightly tapered, as shown, which fit internally upon the mandrel-bars and externally fit in and are supported by stationary transverse supports 19 p, which are adjustably secured to the side rods it. These stationary supports preferably consist each of a lower member 9, secured to the side bars and recessed at intervals to partly embrace the sliding sleeves s, and of an upper member 19., with corresponding recessesfor embracing the upper part of the sleeves s. The upper member 9 is bolted rigidly to the lower member p. In Fig. 6 the mandrel-bar Z, the slidingsleeve s, which supports it, and the external supports 19 p for the sliding sleeve are shown in position when the bar is being supported by the sleeve. In Fig. 7, however, which is on a larger scale of illustration, the sleeve 8 is shown in its position when thrust back from the supports 19 p by the movement of the tube t. The sleeve slides freely along the mandrel-bar and does not interfere at all with the movement of the tube. WVhen the rolls 1' 7c are reversed and the tube moves to the left hand of Fig. 7 under the action of the rolls, the sleeve 8 is manually thrust back into its supporting position in the stationary supports 19 19.

By making the recesses in the supports farthest from the rolls of equal or progressively greater diameter the sleeves .9 pass freely therethrough when they are displaced from the particular support in which they are first engaged. It will also be seen that the recesses in the supports have an additional function of preventing the tube from buckling after it has passed therethrough.

The foregoing description sets forth what is now believed to be the best embodiment of the present invention. It is obvious that considerable modification of detail is permissible without departing from the principles of the invention.

It will thus be seen that according to my invention the transverse rigid support for the v and from the rolls.

I claim as characteristic of the invention the following features and their equivalents:

1. In a tube-rolling mill, the combination with the rolls, of a plurality of movable mandrel-bars, a transverse rigid support holding the mandrel bars against end thrust and through which the tail ends of the mandrelbars extend and to which they are secured by means affording provision for the independent longitudinal adjustment of said mandrel-bars, said transverse support being bodily adjust- ,able to and from the rolls, and a transverse support fixed relatively to the rolls and located intermediate the first-named support and the rolls, for laterally supporting the mandrel-bars, the said latter transverse support being independent of the first-named support and located in fixed position at one side of the mandrel-bars, and recessed to permit the passage of the tube therethrough, substantially as set forth.

2. In a tube-rolling mill, the combination with the rolls, of a plurality of movable mandrel-bars, a transverse rigid support holding the mandrelbars against end thrusts, and through which the tail ends of the mandrelbars extend, and to which they are secured by means afi ording provision for the independent longitudinal adjustment of said mandrel-bars, and a fixed transverse support intermediate the rigid support and the rolls, for laterally supporting the mandrel-bars, the said rigid support being bodily adjustable to and from the rolls independently of the intermediate support and recessed to permit the passage of the tube therethrough, substantially as set forth.

3. In a rolling-mill, the combination with the rolls, of a mandrel-bar, a support for the rear of the mandrel-bar, a support intermediate the rolls and said first-named support, a sleeve loose upon the bar and slidable along the same, the outside of said sleeve being adapted to an aperture in said intermediate support, whereby the bar is afforded a bearing in the sleeve until said sleeve is moved out of position by the work, substantially as set forth.

4. In a rolling-mill, the combination, with rolls, of a mandrel-bar, a support for the rear of the mandrel-bar, an intermediate transverse support for the mandrel-bar, and a sleeve internally fitting the bar and externally tapered and fitting the said transverse support, substantially as set forth.

5. In a rolling-mill, the combination with rolls of a mandrel-bar, a support for the rear of the mandrel-bar, a plurality of separate intermediate supports provided with apertures and fixed at intervals between the rolls and the first said support, and a plurality of sleeves adapted to externally fit the said apertures and internally to fit the said bar, said sleeves being slidable along said bar, substantially as set forth.

6. In a rolling-mill, the combination with rolls of a mandrel-bar, a support for the rear of the mandrel-bar, a sleeve loosely fitting the said bar, and an external support for the said sleeve, said support consisting of a plurality of separable parts fitting the said sleeve, substantially as set forth.

7. In a rolling-mill, the combination with rolls of a mandrel-bar, a support for the rear of the mandrel-bar, a sleeve loosely fitting the said bar externally, a support fitting the exterior of the said sleeve, the meeting surfaces of the sleeve and its said support being one of them tapered to form a guiding-surface, substantially as set forth.

8. In a rolling-mill the combination with the rolls, of a plurality of movable mandrelbars, a transverse rigid support holding the mandrel-bars against end thrusts and through which the tail ends of the mandrel-bars extend, nuts screwed onto the mandrel-bars and bearing against opposite sides of said support to secure the mandrel-bars and to afford provision for the independent longitudinal adjustment of said mandrel-bars, and a fixed transverse support recessed for the passage of the mandrel-bar and the tube therethrough and located intermediate the said rigid support and the rolls, for laterally supporting the mandrel-bars, the said rigid support being bodily adjustable to and from the rolls independently of the intermediate support, substantially as set forth.

9. in a tube-rolling mill, a mandrel-bar, a support for said mandrel-bar located intermediate its ends and having an aperture adapted to pass said mandrel-bar, and a tube rolled thereon, and means in said aperture normally engaging said mandrel-bar and movable out of said aperture by the thrust of the tube thereagainst.

10. ln a tube-rolling mill, a mandrel-bar, a plurality of supports for said mandrel-bar located intermediate its ends and spaced away from each other, each of said supports having an aperture adapted to pass said mandrel-bar and a tube rolled thereon, and means within said supports normally engaging said mandrel-bar and movable out of said aperture and through the aperture in the adjacent support by the thrust of the tube thereagainst.

Signed this 22d day of March, 1901, at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.

JOHN H. NICHOLSON.

Witnesses:

H. WV. HERBERT, HELEN forms. 

